McCarthy: 'There's no reinventing the wheel'

GREEN BAY - Over the course of the last month, Green Bay Packers coach Mike McCarthy has held a number of Monday news conferences in the wake of disappointing — and sometimes embarrassing — defeats. This week was no different in the wake of a horrific loss to Washington on the road Sunday night.

"This has been a difficult four weeks, make no question about it," McCarthy said. "I’m not going to sit here and get into the big-picture stuff. The four weeks have not gone the way we’d like. We’re fully aware of the things we need to do better."

Shellacked by another NFC East opponent, the Packers dropped to 4-6 and are now on the wrong side of the playoff bubble. An already wounded team is now tasked with the perilous challenge of an uphill fight.

Here's a look at what McCarthy said during his interview with the media:

On the injury situation: "Demetri Goodson, it was a significant injury. I do not really have any information as far as each player and where they are. A lot of MRIs going on late morning and early afternoon, so we’re still collecting all the information. But Demetri will not be available obviously this week, but it was a significant injury."

On the state of the team:  "We’re pouring everything into beating the Eagles. We need to get to win No. 5, and that’s where our energy’s at. We understand we have to answer questions and participate in these responsibilities about what’s happened the last four weeks, what happened yesterday, but really we have to get things going down the path towards Philadelphia. And that’s really what we’ve been doing as coaches this morning and have a chance to meet with our players as individuals this afternoon."

On playing defense with less-talented players: "You talk about building a 90-man roster from that, becoming the 53, you define roles for each and every one of your players, but that’s Week 1. Things change. The health of your football team changes. So obviously when you get into spots where we’ve been the last month where you do have heavy injuries with more particular guys’ roles and responsibilities, description of what they’re doing each week, is adjusted, how do you max that out?

"You have a role player that’s usually playing 25 to 30 plays but now he’s playing 60. We have a number of those situations on defense. How are we offsetting that? It’s a challenge, particularly when you continue to have injuries in the game. "

On whether injuries prompt major schematic change: "There’s no reinventing the wheel. We’ve talked about this since the day I arrived here. We have a system of football — offense, defense and special teams that accommodates any football player on our roster. If we’ve got to reinvent the wheel in Week 11 or Week 12, we haven’t set our plan the right way for the season. We have the adjustments and everything we talk about – football IQ, being proactive with our adjustments, and that’s all part of the game.

"Now, the execution of it, the communication and the little things, that’s where we need to be better. The detail’s not there. The biggest hole in our football team is our turnover ratio. I’ve been talking about it all year. We’re not taking care of the football, we’re not taking the football way. Until that changes, we’re going to be fighting uphill."

On the puzzling play of CB Quinten Rollins: "Quinten Rollins, to be honest with you, his injury was a setback. It was bigger… I know when he did it on the practice field, it was a big injury. He fought back. Frankly, he came back earlier than the medical staff thought. I think he’s still working through that. Like anybody, that’s the first time he’s ever had that type of injury. We all need to detail our work better."